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By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM (AP) — James MacPherson threw for 216
yards and a touchdown in Wake Forest's 27-22 victory over East Carolina
on Saturday night.
Matt Wisnosky kicked a pair of field goals and Ovie
Mughelli and Cornelius Birgs each ran for a touchdown to give Wake
Forest (1 (1)- a win in its home opener.
East Carolina was hurt by five turnovers and dropped to
0-2 for the first time in 16 seasons. The Pirates last started a season
with two losses in 1986, when they lost six straight in a 2-9 campaign.
MacPherson became the 10th quarterback in Wake Forest
history to pass for more than 3,000 yards. He finished the game 16-of-29
with no interceptions and a 46-yard TD pass to Anderson in the third
quarter.
Like last week, when Wake Forest lost its opener 42-41
to Northern Illinois in overtime, this one came down to the wire.
The Demon Deacons led nearly the entire game, but could
never put East Carolina away and needed two late defensive stops to seal
the win.
The Pirates trailed 27-22 and were driving when Paul
Troth threw his fourth interception of the game, this one picked off
Eric King - his second of the night - just inside the end zone with 4:33
to play.
Wake Forest tried to run out the clock, but only got to
midfield before it had to punt. Steve Hale dropped the snap and East
Carolina's Marcus White recovered on the 42-yard line with 1:35 to play.
But Troth had two passes broken up and, on fourth down,
nearly was sacked when he tossed the ball away.
Troth finished 21-of-41 for 273 yards and two
touchdowns. Both scores came in the second half when East Carolina
rallied from a 20-3 deficit.
Troth threw a 10-yard TD pass to Richard Hourigan that
cut the lead to 20-10 in the third quarter, and his 15-yard scoring
strike to Edwin Rios made it 27-22 with 7:16 to play.
02/23/2007 10:51 AM
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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